Loren Thompson, a senior defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, notes that, if all plans remain unchanged, by early next decade, the Bush Administration will have closed production for all major military aircraft. Speaking Tuesday at the AFA Washington conference’s industrial base forum, Thompson said that defense industrial base issues are “simply … not a priority” for the Bush Administration.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.